He sits against a window on a small wooden bench.

His presence is something formidable, like a mountain.

Not a mountain that is crushing you, but a mountain of wisdom and compassion.

This is the person I've traveled all this way for, and I feel a deep longing to immerse myself in his presence.

In his life, renowned humanitarian and Buddhist monk, Mathieu Ricard, has had the unique privilege of

sitting at the feet of the world's most esteemed spiritual leaders, many of which he describes

in his memoir, notebooks of a wandering monk. The mere presence of these great masters can feel overwhelming,

but as Mathia shares in the story of meeting his first teacher, it's best to not analyze

or try to understand these powerful moments. Instead, we must experience them

and attune ourselves to their energy.

In this series, we combine immersive first-person stories,

breathtaking music, and mindfulness prompts

so that we may see our lives reflected back to us in other people's stories.

And that can lead to improvements in our own inner lives.

From Wait What, this is meditative story.

I'm Rohan, and I'll be your guide. The body relaxed.

The body breathing.

Your senses open, your mind open. Meeting the world. I climbed the creaky wooden steps one at a time, and finally reached the fifth floor.

The door opens, and I step into the apartment.

It is a modern bourgeois family apartment, quite luminous with big rooms.

A projector sits in the middle of the living room,

spalled with 16mm film.

...